Review: Swann's view of world is familiar, yet not

There is a stylistic approach in the works of Lakeville painter Randy Swann that is a bit optically maddening. As one stands quite closely in front of his oil paintings, some done on wood panel, other on canvas, they appear mildly out of focus, like photographs made with Vaseline smeared on the camera lens. There are no hard ...

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By Don Wilkinson

southcoasttoday.com

By Don Wilkinson

Posted Apr. 24, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Don Wilkinson
Posted Apr. 24, 2014 at 12:01 AM

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There is a stylistic approach in the works of Lakeville painter Randy Swann that is a bit optically maddening. As one stands quite closely in front of his oil paintings, some done on wood panel, other on canvas, they appear mildly out of focus, like photographs made with Vaseline smeared on the camera lens. There are no hard lines, no crisp edges, no true defining visual push-and-pull as a unique and purposeful application of color flattens the imagery out. Buildings seem to be made of marzipan, streets are like pizza dough, and a parking meter looks no firmer than a stick of licorice.

And yet "¦ as if by some magic of technique and the eye, as one takes a few steps back from the work, it changes. As if one has wiped smudges from eyeglasses, things comes into sharp clarity and a different but a very familiar world is offered up.

Many of Swann's "small town" landscapes have a unique sense of place, tinged with nostalgia that can be a bit sweet in terms of both of both hue and subject matter. But like a marriage that seems too perfect, or a smile that hides an ugly truth, one is left to imagine what goes on in the shadows and behind closed doors.

"On Ramp" features a street that is incongruously paved a shade of baby blue but still makes visual sense within the context of the panel. The road splits, and to the left, leads to a band of blackness, indicating the underbelly of an overpass; the right side of the fork goes past a series of parked cars to a not-too-distant tree line. One option suggests the possibility of adventure, the other the safety of home. But which is which?

Swann has a proclivity for oddly shaped buildings and uncommon architecture. Semi-triangular buildings appear in three paintings: "Route 44," "Portland Intersection" and "Al's Diner.'' The diner painting's flatiron-like building has dingy white siding and shutters the color of dried blood or deep rust. A few lines indicate a fire escape from the tenements above the ground-level bar, the kind of place where one might go for a draft beer and a cacoila sandwich. A Coca-Cola sign juts from the wall, perfectly anchoring all in place.

In "Joe's Diner," another work that reveals Swann's fondness for a certain aspectual stream of Americana, an old-school joint evokes thoughts of black coffee, grilled cheese and apple pie. A wheelchair ramp runs up the side. Five distribution boxes — the kind that hold alternative weekly newspapers, Christian literature pamphlets and real estate guides — stand like guards in a range of strong colors, glossy black, royal blue, charcoal gray, red and avocado green.

In "Bridgton Center," a town center is romanticized, looking a bit like Andy Griffith's Mayberry. One could imagine Aunt Bea and Opie coming out of one of the shops. Banners and signs project from the storefronts. An old-fashioned lamppost, an American flag and a distant steeple all recede, drawing the eye deeper inward. And then one notices a certain craziness in the painting; one that transforms it beyond the ordinary. Painted yellow lines indicate a pedestrian crosswalk "¦ and those lines hover over the street itself. It works so well because it doesn't work.

Swann's distinctive style is hard to nail down. There is certainly an impressionist's sun-dappled sensibility, but filtered through the cranky cynicism of Edward Hopper. "Along the Way," some recent work by Randy Swann, is up at the Great Ponds Gallery at the Lakeville Public Library, 4 Precinct St., until the end of April.

Don Wilkinson is a painter and art critic who lives in New Bedford. Contact him at Don.Wilkinson@gmail.com